Journalists’ Emotional Responses to Technological Disruption
By Carolina Escudero
Addressing the ethical, emotional, and professional challenges posed by artificial intelligence in contemporary journalism, Mediating Imperfect AI examines how journalists are navigating the integration of emerging technologies in their everyday work. Rather than framing AI in terms of simple resistance or uncritical adoption, the book introduces a human-centred, critically reflective approach that foregrounds ambiguity, dialogue, and ethical responsibility, while recognising both the possibilities and limitations of AI systems.
Drawing on theoretical perspectives and cross-cultural interviews, the volume situates journalists’ emotional responses to AI within broader sociocultural and epistemological frameworks. It focuses on emotional labour, professional identity, and ethical judgment, offering one of the first systematic analyses of how journalists feel about AI rather than how they merely use it. By providing a more humanised understanding of AI in newsrooms and proposing reflective pathways for its incorporation, the book offers valuable insights for scholars, practitioners, and students concerned with media ethics, technological change, and the future of journalism.
Carolina Escudero is an affiliated professor at the Missouri School of Journalism, associate professor at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and a member of IAMCR.
Title: Mediating Imperfect AI: Journalists’ Emotional Responses to Technological Disruption
Author: Carolina Escudero
Published: 2025
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan